Last



' foot portion, and i UNIT-Eo STATES PATENT oFFIcE.

CHARLES AH. MORRILL, OF SWAVIPSCOTT, rMASSACHUSE'ITS, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CORPORATION, OF NEW JERSEY.v

OF'PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION LAST.

Application Vfiled October 18, 19,2'0. Serial No. 417,712.

This invention relates to the manufacture of arctic shoes and is disclosed for illustra-y tive purposes as embodied in a so-called arctic-last set for use in the manufacture of rubber shoes or arctics.

Lasts or forms of this typeare manufactured in a number of different lengths of leg, and it has heretofore been the custom to provide complete lasts for each length. Owing to the expense and difficulty of obtaining andl handling large blocks of wood, they have sometimes been made in two pieces, a leg portion and a foot portion, the two portions being then fastened firmly and-permanently together in the course of manufacture of the last.` I have discovered that the lasts used, for example, in makingI 1, a and 6 buckle arctics all have a substantially identical lower foot portion differing only in ythe shape of they portions above the ankle, and

that a great saving ininvestment and storage room and labor in manufacture-can'bey made by providing a single foot portion adapted to receive interchangeably .several detachable legl portions, with which the foot portion maybe used at will. Accordingly an important feature ofthe invention consists in a last set characterized as above described;

This and other features of theinvention comprising certain combinations and arrangements of parts will be understood from the following description of a preferred'embodiment thereof selected foi-.purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawings in which,

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing the operative relation of the different leg portions to the Figs. 2 and 3 show the 1 and t buckle leg portions detached, l

In Fig. 1 the full line outline shows a last fora G-,buckle arct-ic.` This is made in two/ pieces, a leg portion 10 and a foot portion 12, separable along the line 14e and rigidly held together when attached to each other by a latch 16 operable by a handle 18 at the top of the leg, and engaging a slotted plate 2O in the foot portion. Dowels 22 are provided on one of the parts to engage holes in the other to hold the parts in alinement. The last parts are thus obviously readily separable when desired.

The foot portion 12 is of the ordinaryv form used in these lasts, but has its upper o surface 14 near the ankle, in the locality low. -The` upper cross-section of the foot .y

portion is common to all lasts of a set.

A fset as herein defined may consist of a foot .portion and a convenient number of leg portions of varying heights.` lThe style of the foot portions of lasts of the type herein illustrated is not determined by the leg portions, since changes in style, as far as the last is concerned, affect only theforepart of the foot portion, the leg portionsl beingV the saine irrespective of the style. Accordingly, a setl may alsoconsist of a plurality of foot portions vofvvarying styles, but of the same size and width, or foot-room, plus a conheights.

As to lsuch a last of given size and style,

the shape of the lower, portion of the last is invariable from the tread face up tof-about the level of the` ankle joint, irrespective of the .height of the leg portion. .'Froin" this point up, however, the vertical profile of the last begins to differ materially, for the reason that the portion( of the leg. of a shoe,v such as van arctic just above the anklemust be loose owing to the necessity of drawing the heel and instep of the shoe worn inside the arctic through this portion of the arctic in putting it on and off. In the foot portion of the arctic kas far upv as the ankle portion, the l but justiabove this point room, in addition to the room requiredby the lower part of the wearers leg `and that furnished by such f bellows-tongue construction as it is practical to'put in an arctic, is required to allow the shoe heel to pass,- This additionalv room varies somewhat vwith the height of the leg port-ion of the arctic and the distance the shoe heel yhas to move in being pulled out. In particular, the difference between the 1- -or Q-buckle arctic, the tor more buckle arctic is considerable. The upper end of the arctic is made to fit the leg of the wearer and the shape of the arctic leg tapers down from there to the dimension required above the ankle. This results in a radically different leg-profile in shoes of different heights, as shown in Fig. 1.

-In accordance with the present invention, the joint 14 between the foot and legpoitions is made at or below the point Where the vertical profiles of the leg portions begin to diverge, so that the foot portion will fit perfectlyivith any leg portion.l A, 1- buckle legI portion is shown at 26 in Fig l and in Fig. 3. A -buckle leg portion is shown at 24 in Fig. l and in Fig. 2. 6-buclile leg port-ion is shown at 10 in Fig. 1.

Thus, by the present invention, an arctic maker need keep much less capital tied up in foot portions than he must in accordance with prior practice,l for the lsan'i'e ii'ianufacturing capacity, since he can use the saine stock lof foot portions all' the time, irrespective of the heights ofthe legs Aof the shoes he is making. Also, the foot' portion is the more expensive part of the last.

In addition to this capital economy, the manufacture Iof theV shoes is simplified by the detachability lof the last portions which is secured by the present invention. Formerly the Whole ylast was always usedl in one piece and the Weight "of it we'ai'ied ltlie. operator ver'y inuch. Also, a long legged.l lastl milita'tes against machine operations 'on shoes such as arct'ics, as the hand-ling ofi the arctics forsuch operations involves turnthe shoe in a limited space, and a long. leg portion in the last interferes With such procedure. When using last apparatus constructed in accordance 'with vthev present' in'- vention, 'the manufacture ofthe shoe may be completed up to the vulcanizingy opera'- tion upon the foot portion alone7 the leg portions of the slices being cut* by pattern, assembled and left to hang as do the cor'- respondingparts of a leather boot. Ihsu'ch use the pins on the stick on which the shoes are carried aroundv the factory are placed in the 'holes which later ac'coini'noL date the dowels 22. lff the practice just outliiiedis followed, when thesho'e is ready for' the vulcaniZii-ig operation, the leg por'- tion of the 'last is 'inserted and the shoe properly arrangedonJit, and the'vulcanization shapes the Whole shoe lto the vvhole (ast.

There is thus secured a distinctl'ecoiioiny of effort in hand Work and the vadvantage of adaptability for machineoperations,if'1

desired.

Having desci'.^i'b'edv my' invention, what If facture of arctics comprising a footportion and a Aplural-ity of legportions of diiferent vertical profiles constructed and arranged xto co-operate interchangeably With the foot portion, the surface of separation of each of said:1 leg portions-being of the saine shape and dimensions as the surface of separation ofthe foot portion, land means for detachably and rigidly securing a leg portion to said' foot portion with their surfaces of separation registering.

2. A set of last apparatus comprising a footportion' extending upward to substantially airltle-'liei'glit' andl 'a plurality' of yleg portions of varying vertical proii'lesconstructed and arranged to 'co-operate inter# changeably with the foot portion.

i'set of' arctic llas-t apparatus comprisii-ig a foot' `portion and a plurality of leg portions of' 'varying heights, each arranged to jo'in"tlie 'footf portion separablfy along a line lox'v enough in the rlast to be in lthat part of the last W-liich is'v of the saine dimensions in;v allj arctic flasts of that size :havingvar-ying heights lof leg portion, Whereby the foot portion maybe usedI with any leg portion of the set lt'o 'form al complete last.

4. Anv arctic last set compris-ing a foot? portion having surface of separation along al line' atA the point Where leg portions off dierent heights begin toy diverge from one another, and' ay set of `legl lport-ionsof'varying heights constructed and arranged'v tobe interchanged with each other in detachable combination with the foot portion at the said surface Iof separation.

An arctic last set comprising Va foot portion-having va surface of separation along a lineat about the location lof the ankle Where leg: p'o'rtioiisfof'l diifereut lieiglrt's be gin to diverge from one another", and a` set olfle'g portions ofvaryinglie'glits constructed and arranged to be intereliange'd -withl each other in separable combinationvvith lthe foot portion lat thel said 'surface of separation.

In testimony whereof I have signed my naineto Ithiscspecification.

CHARLES H'. MGRRILL. 

